Ethnicity and degree attainment

In this paper, we investigate the low degree attainment of ethnic minority students in higher education in England. Using a partial proportional odds model and data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency for qualifiers who started their course of study in 2002/03, we find that even after controlling for the majority of factors which we would expect to have an impact on attainment, being from a minority ethnic community is still statistically significant in explaining final attainment, although the gap has been significantly reduced

Gender gaps in higher education participation: An analysis of the relationship between prior attainment and young participation by gender, socio-economic class and ethnicity

In this paper, we use two new datasets to explore the extent to which the gender gap in higher education participation amongst young people in England is related to prior attainment. We find no conclusive evidence of a gender difference in the likelihood of participating in higher education once prior attainment is controlled for. We do find, however, that young people from ethnic minority backgrounds are overwhelmingly more likely to enter higher education compared to White people with the same prior attainment. In the case of young people who were eligible for free school meals, we find that prior attainment explains the vast majority of the gap in participation compared to non-FSM pupils, however we still find a small, negative (and statistically significant) effect, which we could not eliminate entirely in any of our models.higher education participation; gender; ethnicity; socio-economic class

Ethnicity and degree attainment

In this paper, we investigate the low degree attainment of ethnic minority students in higher education in England. Using a partial proportional odds model and data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency for qualifiers who started their course of study in 2002/03, we find that even after controlling for the majority of factors which we would expect to have an impact on attainment, being from a minority ethnic community is still statistically significant in explaining final attainment, although the gap has been significantly reduced.Ethnicity; Higher Education; Attainment

Do skills matter for wage inequality?

Policymakers in many OECD countries are increasingly concerned about high and rising inequality. Much of the evidence (as far back as Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations) points to the importance of skills in tackling wage inequality. Yet a recent strand of the research argues that (cognitive) skills explain little of the cross-country differences in wage inequality. Does this challenge the received wisdom on the relationship between skills and wage inequality? No, because this recent research fails to account for the fact that the price of skill (and thus wage inequality) is determined to a large extent by the match of skill supply and demand

Tackling graduate unemployment in North Africa through employment subsidies: A look at the SIVP programme in Tunisia

This paper takes a closer look at Tunisia's SIVP: an employment subsidy aimed at university graduates and, until recently, the country's largest active labour market policy. Using a tracer survey of the 2004 graduating cohort, OLS and matching techniques are applied to estimate the relationship between programme participation and the labour market outcomes of participants. Graduates who benefited from the programme appear less likely to be unemployed and considerably more likely to have found a job in the private sector - but this may partly reflect selection into the programme, which is not random

Gender gaps in higher education participation: An analysis of the relationship between prior attainment and young participation by gender, socio-economic class and ethnicity

In this paper, we use two new datasets to explore the extent to which the gender gap in higher education participation amongst young people in England is related to prior attainment. We find no conclusive evidence of a gender difference in the likelihood of participating in higher education once prior attainment is controlled for. We do find, however, that young people from ethnic minority backgrounds are overwhelmingly more likely to enter higher education compared to White people with the same prior attainment. In the case of young people who were eligible for free school meals, we find that prior attainment explains the vast majority of the gap in participation compared to non-FSM pupils, however we still find a small, negative (and statistically significant) effect, which we could not eliminate entirely in any of our models

A multi-level approach to program objectives: definitions and managerial implications

Projects are recognized as the building blocks of strategy. Outputs, outcomes, benefits and related concepts have been put forward by the program management community to bridge the gap between strategy and projects. Yet, firstly there appears to be some discordance among authors on the exact nature of these concepts. Secondly, these frameworks may not yet fully reflect the specific nature of strategy implementation. Therefore it is hard to accept them as the basis for communication between the project/program organisation and the business management when managing strategy implementation through programs of projects. We will borrow three concepts (resources, competencies and capabilities) from the resource based view of the company (RBV). We shall use them to define three levels of program objectives. We will illustrate these levels through a case of a strategic program in a professional information services company. We conclude with implications on current program management practice and research. Keywords: program management, program objectives, strategy implementation, benefits managemen

Heterogeneous response of chemotherapy-related cognitive decline in patients with breast cancer : a prospective study

Objective: A significant proportion of adjuvant-treated breast cancer patients experience cognitive decline, challenging the person's ability to return to normal activities after treatment. However, not every patient experiences cognitive problems, and even in patients with impairments, determining clinically important cognitive decline remains challenging. Our objective was to explore differences in neuropsychological performance following adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) in patients with breast cancer. Method: We conducted a prospective observational study in an Oncology Breast Clinic and assessed neuropsychological performance before and after adjuvant CT and in non-CT-treated women with breast cancer and healthy controls (HCs). Standardised between-group differences and regression-based change scores were calculated. Results: CT-treated patients (n= 66) performed significantly different from non-CT-treated patients (n= 39) and HCs (n= 56). There was a significant effect on verbal fluency (p= .0013). CT performed significantly worse than non-CT and HC [effect size (ES) = .89,p< .001 and ES = .61,p <= .001, respectively] and from HCs with regard to proactive interference (ES = .62,p <= .001). Regression-based scores revealed more severe cognitive decline in the CT-treated group [24.24% (16/66)] than in the non-CT-treated group [15.20% (6/39)] and HC group [7.14% (4/56)]. Patients who underwent CT and showed cognitive decline were less educated and older, with significantly lower baseline scores. Conclusions: CT-treated patients showed more vulnerability on cognitive control and monitoring than non-CT-treated breast cancer patients and HCs. Older patients with less education and lower baseline cognitive performance represent a group at risk for cognitive decline following CT. Identification of patients at risk for decline could improve targeted support and rehabilitation